User dialogue and communication

The elements depicted in Figure 3.1 include both cross-cutting actions such as improved dialogue with users, strengthening governance, sustainability and visibility of the NFCS, and actions involving specific sectors or areas:

● strengthening the interface and dialogue with users of climate information and services by bringing them into the NFCS design and implementation, building their capacities and improving communication with them;

● building long-term partnerships with key sectoral recipients of NFCS products and services, identifying the needs, co-designing and co-producing specific products and services together; ● zooming in on areas of special significance for Armenia by focussing climate services on high mountains and Lake Sevan;

● modernising and expanding the observation and data basis for hydrometeorological and climate services;

● shaping and sustaining an effective governance and sustainability model of the

National Framework for Climate Services in

Armenia.

The action plan in the Annex outlines specific actions for each of the NFCS elements. Fuller descriptions of each area follow.

USER DIALOGUE AND COMMUNICATION

The HMC is genuinely interested in expanding the range, reach and quality of its services, but a relatively small proportion of users of such services has clear ideas of what information they are already receiving, what else can be requested and under what conditions, and how the information and services can serve their interests. Ongoing dialogue with the user community is thus the necessary precondition for the design of a framework that can fully serve users’ interests. Interaction through user interface platforms and similar mechanisms is a crucial element of NFCS design, and a dialogue with different types of users needs to be established in a participatory and interactive manner. Ideally, such a dialogue should address different groups (from politicians to mass media to individual users).

Similarly, users from various sectors, regions, backgrounds and levels of capacity – from national authorities to individual farmers – need to be integrated into a regular NFCS dialogue. Once established, it will allow for a regular sampling and monitoring of user feedback and collecting inputs for new climate products and services, and will help build capacities of users themselves in order to cultivate further demand. Most importantly, it will allow for the reverse engineering of climate products, data and information based on a first-hand understanding of what users really need and want.

As a practical matter, face-to-face round-table meetings could be held several times a year, each time focusing on a different set of issues common to a particular user group and/ or economic sector. Such a rolling agenda will ensure the continuity of user dialogue and help avoid discussions so broad as to render them uninteresting. In addition to sampling user demand and to helping design new, and fine-tune existing, climate information services accordingly,